Expo @ Entre le Cafe et la Plume

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Expo @ Entre le Cafe et la Plume

December 2011 - January 2012
123 Av. Mont Royal Ouest, Montreal, QC H2T 2S9

My friends at Entre le Cafe et la Plume were gracious enough to offer me their walls for this month of December going into early January.

Coffee lovers...
Readers...
Writers...
Etc'ers...

Here's a cool new spot at the foot of the mountain that has exactly what you're looking for...
Plus they are the only brewers of Verve coffee in town!
They've been open since the end of the summer and things are booming!
I was lucky enough to be called upon to design their logo and now I've got my creations on their walls... Couldn't be more grateful!

Take a stroll over and say hi!


It's really too bad the law prevents this little one from hanging out in the shop...
She's a heart melter...

[...]

Blu & Exile

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Blu & Exile
16" X 7"
Spray paint on cardboard
September 2011
Not available - Given to Blu & Exile

To show my appreciation for their Below the Heavens album [2007] I made portraits of Blu & Exile and gave them to them after their recent Montreal appearance. Actually, in a haze of post show Belmont darkness I handed them both to Exile [didn't really get a chance to explain what they were either] and have no possible way to know if:

1- Blu actually got his...
2- Exile kept his...
3- They thought I was creepy...
4- They know I've just made a list about them...

A good deed is its own reward... or something like that...

[...]

Batman!

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Batman!
Mixed Medium on Recycled Canvas
48" X 24"
July 2011

I used to hate Batman...
Now he's my favorite.
The recent movies had nothing to do with it...
Things change dude.

[...]

Reservoir Dogs

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Reservoir Dogs
Mixed Medium on Canvas
24" X 30"
July 2011

In 1994, a friend of mine, Tone, and his best friend were in France after a trip to Amsterdam and had some time to kill before their flight home. With them, was a friend whom they brought along from Amsterdam - Mr. Brown - who couldn't make the flight home with them. So they took Mr. Brown for a quick walk to give him a proper send off and then they were off to the movies. They decided to check out a movie from an up and coming American director who had been making a lot of noise in film festivals around the world with his first full length effort: Reservoir Dogs.

Still buzzing from their farewell to Mr.Brown, they sat down and enjoyed the now-classic opening scene for the first time. Immediately after the breakfast discussion about Madonna and tipping and such, once the title came up, Tone's best friend got up, disoriented, and said: "Wow! That was amazing... I definitely got my money's worth with that movie." It was only after Tone explained to him that it had only been 5-10 minutes and that the movie hadn't really started that he sat back down to actually watch the movie.

*********

This brief anecdote, I think, is a great testament to the writor/director work of Quentin Tarantino and his complete mastery of natural dialogue. Anyone who may have tried their hand at writing will agree that natural dialogue is one of the most difficult things to simulate... and Tarantino makes it look easy.

This is my tribute to this classic film.

Mark it Zero!

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Mark it Zero!
Spray paint stencil'd on Skateboard
July 2011
Commissioned
Sold

It's the sale that keeps on selling!

A few years ago I sold a Mickey Mantle skateboard to a complete stranger...
Then...
This stranger's girlfriend commissioned me for a soccer player on a skateboard...
Then...
I was contacted by his best friend to make a Big Lebowski skateboard...

I don't think I've seen John Goodman in anything but Roseanne and The Big Lebowski...
I loved him in both and am honored to have been asked to paint him as this amazing character... Amazing scene to boot!

**************

The next time it rains in your time zone you should watch The Big Lebowski...

[...]

Marie-Anne

Marie-Anne
Mixed Medium on Skateboard
32" X 8"
May 2011
SOLD

I was sent a few pictures from around the world by my amazing friend Rachel in my last Open Call and I finally got around to using one of them. I've been meaning to for the longest time since she's been one of my very first supporters. The picture I've used was taken while she was living in Montreal a few years ago.

For this piece, I started with a blank deck that was originally stained yellow by the manufacturer. I cut out a shallow groove to create the illusion of a rectangular frame and then sanded the surrounding area down to its original wood grain color. Once this was done I painted inside the frame and stained outside of it. It was my first time ever using wood stain [it's never too late!] and I'm psyched to incorporate it in my work in the future.

I hope you all enjoy it. It's currently hanging at Studio Bizz Iberville at 2488 Mont-Royal East until the end of the month and then it's being shipped out to Rachel who's decided she had to have it as soon as she saw it.

Of course, in the future, or present, if you'd like to send me your pictures you may continue to do so at any time at P.Summind@gmail.com. As usual, there's not guarantee I will use them but I'm always happy to receive random images from people and see what can be done. Thanks in advance for playing along!

On that note, take care of yourselves and loved ones and have yourselves a wonderful week. Don't be shy to share this blog with your friends & leave comments on the posts.

[...]

Les Eaux

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Les Eaux
Spray Paint on Re-Used Canvas
20" X 28"
May 2011

There's something about some urban structures that just sticks to your eyeballs and it's hard to understand why that is. For example, sitting in the Mile End hood of Montreal, there's this old, abandoned looking building with a huge water reservoir on it. I wasn't able to find any information about this particular building but I did find dozens and dozens of user uploaded pictures of it which leads me to believe that I'm not the only one who's interested in it. It "looks" abandoned but honestly, whenever I used to walk/jog/bike by there, I always had the impression that there might still be some buzzing in the beehive.

I used to live 2 minutes away from this spot and also used to bring my dog Umaa to a secret dog park right by it on a regular basis [Plateau & Mile End residents know it as the bridge burner spot]. So I, myself, also have an abundance of pictures of this building and had always wanted to paint it properly. And now here we are.

****** BONUS ROUND ******

Once again, without further ado, here's the abridged version of the "making of" for those cats out there who dig the process!

Re-use of an old Obama painting I had made in November 2008 [My friend's 1 of 2 copy of this piece has now become 1 of 1!]:

He's a tough guy... just won't go away without a fight:

Sky colors:

Doesn't look like much yet... I agree:

Let's stick a building in there:

More steps, more cutting:

Starting to look like something:

How about a fire hydrant in there:

[some steps missing]
And then one last layer of black to make it all come together:

So here we are!

This painting as well as all of my most recent, unreleased work can be seen for the whole month of June at Studio Bizz Iberville [2488 Mont-Royal Est]. Keep your eyes and ears open for a mid-month vernissage or maybe even a
"taking down the art show" event!
Who knows!

It's a gloomy day in Montreal but that doesn't mean that nothing can be done... It's a perfect day for making coffee and revisiting a novel you've already read or have been meaning to read. I would suggest something by Kafka, Welsh or Orwell.

If you're not in the reading mood then I would suggest watching "La Haine." I will leave you with the trailer and hope you enjoy the rest of this Sunday!

P.S.: When I was 18 or so, Vincent Cassel from La Haine was my doppelganger! Random!

Take care and go make some love today.

[...]

Coin de Bullion [feat. The Making Of...]

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Coin de Bullion

Mixed Medium on Recycled Canvas
36" X 36"
May 2011

What is recycled canvas? Simply put, a canvas that was once something else... and now is something new. A few years ago, I was asked to participate in a friend's photo shoot for school in which I portrayed Jesus Christ... I know! Some of the photos came out pretty sick and I had decided to make a piece with one of them. The canvas was plastered with torn out bible pages that created an interesting background but the idea never really came together visually in the end so the piece was never shown to anyone except close friends of mine who came to my place. Since then it's been sitting under a bed sheet waiting, waiting.

Of late, I've been tightening my budget belt a lot more than usual and, as luck would have it, I'm recently REALLY into the concept of re-using old canvases that have been gathering dust in my studio space [how convenient, right? Right.].

I've also been asked by people to show a bit more of what goes into making one of my pieces and I figured this one would be as good as any to show you! So without any further ado... I present to you:

"The making of Coin de Bullion"
[The semi-abridged version]

Here's the original picture I took while out on a dog walk [pretty random, I'd say!]:

So here we go!

I ripped off as much of the bible paper as possible but since it was glued on there something wicked I couldn't get it all off and so there are still some "good book" remains lingering. I sanded it down to give if a nice smooth feel so that I wouldn't be too lumpy.

Then the actual painting could begin! Rollers and acrylics first.

Followed by some spray paint fade for the sky.

Skip ahead a step [creation of the main background beige-ish layer] and right into the second layer stencil which will be used for the white highlights [ironically done first!].

Before:

After:

Next I created 2 new stencils for the following 2 shades of brown [only the first of these 2 layers is shown below]:

It's all in the details. Notice the cross-walk sign is the only thing that's not blue or brown...
Why?
Why not?

And finally one layer of black [some pictures missing]:

And... the final unveiling:

So there you have it!

A step-by-step view into what makes one of my paintings come to life... I hope you've enjoyed the ride and will share with your friends and family.

This painting as well as all of my most recent, unreleased work can be seen for the whole month of June at Studio Bizz Iberville [2488 Mont-Royal Est]. Keep your eyes and ears open for a mid-month vernissage or maybe even a
"taking down the art show" event!
Who knows!

So as usual, thanks for playing along and I wish you all a great, great time.
Until we meet again!

[...]

Tam Tam Limited Series [9]

Tam Tam Limited Series [9]
Spray Paint on Cardboard
Each 16" X 10"
April 2011

By definition, a stencil is made to be used and re-used until it returns to the earth from which it came. Personally, I have been making it a point to use stencils only once in order to create complex, one of a kind pieces in order to break away from the stereotype and expectations. Of course I have strayed away from my own rule here and there but for the most part have been very consistently abiding by it.

That being said, I've recently made a a limited series of 8 elephants on cardboard that were all different [colors, paint splashes, etc.] while being done with the same stencil combination. They were extremely well received as 7 of 8 were snatched up within a few hours.

Based off the success of the elephant series, I created a limited series of 9 [1 missing from top picture] cardboard pieces depicting the Mont Royal Tam Tam's. They were also well received since 5 of 9 were purchased last Friday. The remaining 4 are currently sitting at Voodooo Ink Tattoo Shop [4148 St-Denis] waiting for someone to come give them a new home [$30 per item].

Keep an eye out, there will be more series coming up during the summer and they will all be available for purchase through here. If ever you want the last remaining Elephant [$35 ship. incl.], please contact me via P.Summind@gmail.com it will be my pleasure to send it to you... or deliver it in person if you're in Montreal.

[...]

Snow Shoes

Snow Shoes

Spray Paint Stencil'd on Canvas
20" X 10"
April 2011

I was walking my dog in the West Island this past winter and noticed something very only-in-Canada-like: Sneakers strung to a wire covered in snow. How winter-gangster of us Canucks! I took a picture for fun but didn't think I'd make anything with it... and yet, here we are...

Also, I just found out that Blogger is offering a stats service that shows me cool stuff like how many people are viewing my blog and what they're clicking to get here and so on and so forth... super excited to find out I have readers from Canada, US, UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Romania, Switzerland, Italy and Russia!

HOLY FLATTERED!!

It would also appear that the best source for links to new articles is from Twitter and via Facebook... so I really encourage anyone who's Facebook-ish or Tweet-friendly to follow me by clicking the thingy's below:

@KevinMxDermott
Kevin McDermott's Facebook page

On that note, I leave all of you wonderful, international lovers to go on with your busy, busy day of Sunday'ing and stuff.
Enjoy it until it bursts!

[...]

"It's not you, it's me."

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"It's not you, it's me."
Spray Paint Stencil'd on Canvas
16" X 16"
April 2011

I first saw Fight Club in theaters when I was 18 or 19 years old and it broke my brain. How the hell did I not see that twist coming throughout the movie when there are so many clues along the way [nice spoiler save... eh?]? In one particularly epic scene, the narrator, played by Edward Norton, is beating the beauty out of a blond Jared Leto and, in voice over, he says: "I felt like putting a bullet between the eyes of every Panda that wouldn't screw to save its species [...]"

I fell in love with the idea that the species being labeled "endangered" by us, humans, has no clue that they are anything but fine and therefore, don't feel any urgency to procreate. It frustrates US that they won't screw to save themselves because their endangerment is ultimately, our fault, and we feel guilty [but that's for another post].

Just recently I thought of these two pandas who are considering mating but then one says to the other in classic lazy break-up fashion: "It's not you, it's me."

This made me giggle all by myself the whole time I was making it. I decided to go with Chinese symbols to make it a little less obvious and also to stimulate discussion.

10+ years later, Fight Club continues to be one of my favorite movies of all time and Chuck Palahniuk, the author, has gained a spot in my short list of favorite writers. My top picks from his ever-growing portfolio are Fight Club & Invisible Monsters [still the only book to give me literal, and not just figurative, shivers]. An honorable mention goes to Pygmy for the amazing consistency of the style in which it's written [it's also pretty hilarious throughout].

So I hope you all enjoy the Pandas. I hope they help open up the discussion of "man playing God" a little or at least give you a quick snicker.

Here's a picture of myself and Chuck from his book release tour for Rant in 2000 something. He was "officially" done taking pictures but allowed this last one. Look how young I look!


On a related-unrelated side-note, for those curious about the Man playing God theory, I strongly suggest reading the books by Daniel Quinn: Ishmael & My Ishmael. Both philosophical novels are similar insofar as they are for the most part a telepathic discussion between a wise old gorilla and a man [Ishmael] or a young girl [My Ishmael]. Both books address from different viewpoints the question of today's world and "how did things get the way they are?" Very interesting stuff.

My people! Sping is here!
You know what that means... no... not leisurely chilling... at least, not before you help your parents set-up their yard and stuff... That's what I'm off to do right now... Gazeebo away!

Here's some appropriate gazeebo-panda music courtesy of Joe Beats:

[...]

Ryan Gosling [Gus-ling]

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Ryan Gus-ling
Spray Paint Stencil'd on Canvas
16" X 12"

March 2011
SOLD

Here's a little something I threw together today.

It's my version of Ryan Gosling if he had been a child born with the "sickness" from the graphic novel series Sweet Tooth by Ontario resident Jeff Lemire. The series is still ongoing and I'm finding it quite entertaining so far although it may not be everyone's cup of tea. In a post-apocalyptic rural world, kids are born with various degrees of animal mutations and the main kid character Gus is born with deer features. I will leave it at that for now and let everyone check out the series for themselves.


What I do suggest to everyone though, graphic novel lovers or not, is to pick up the Essex County trilogy which almost brought me to tears on more than one occasion. In fact, first thing tomorrow I think I'm gonna start reading it again.

Here's a link to Jeff Lemire's website where you can find info about him and his body of work as well as a link to his blog.

It's bicycle season again people... let's make some green love!

DISCLAIMER: The title of this post was such a cheesy play on words that I simply had to do it... bad puns are the new good puns!

[...]

Custom Table Top

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Custom Table Top

Spray Paint Stencil'd on Wood
24" X 48"
March 2011

We've had this perfectly good table in our living room for a while now and my girlfriend has been bugging me to get a new one to replace it. I've refused multiple times based on the fact that I don't think it's a good idea to spend hard earned money on stuff that isn't needed. After some back and forth, she gave in to my reasoning but it wasn't without a counter offer: Paint it!


To further entice me she took 2 days to strip it and reveal the great wood grain that had been suffocated under brown paint for who knows how long and from then... while she was at work I put on some movies and started the taping, cutting & spraying...

Before I knew it, I had watched Trainspotting, Watchmen, V for Vendetta and The Losers [instead of music sometimes, I like to put on movies I've seen before and listen to them while I work] and we now have a brand n'used table just waiting to be re-varnished... but that's not my department! Gift ideas much?

Take care folks!
Things could be worse...
All my positive energy goes out to the good people of Japan in their time of need...

[...]

Elephants & Thank You's

Elephants & Thank You's

The dust is beginning to settle from last Friday's show and I'm only now starting come down...

I'd like to take a moment to thank everyone who helped me out with the event's preparation as well as the event itself. A big, heartfelt thanks also goes out to each and everyone who came out to show love and share the good vibe. Of course, I couldn't live with myself without giving a huge shout out to the musicians who were there to provide the soundtrack for the evening.

Now... on to the elephants!

This started the week before the show when it was suggested to me that I make a bunch of smaller prints for the smaller spenders [no offense, I'm a very small spender!] to be able to take something home. It was so genius I kicked myself for not thinking of it sooner.

My girlfriend is a huge fan of elephants and has been bugging me to make her one for a while now so I figured it was time for it to happen. One thing led to another and I made a limited series of 8 small similar yet different elephants on cardboard and one giant one on untreated canvas.

7/8 elephants are now gone which leaves the [now even more elusive] last one sitting at Sub V waiting for someone to come pick it up. Not to mention that the giant elephant was talked about a lot during the event but no one picked it up... So it's still up for grabs as well!

Before I forget, peace to Mark Gravel from Punchline Clothing who was the winner of the raffle and got to take home a portrait of Slug from Atmosphere. Yeah!

Finally,
Since last Thursday, there's been an article up on the Nightlife.ca website about me and I couldn't be more flattered. Thanks a lot to Brian Bentley for posting it and supporting the local scene.

I think I'm going to go snowboarding.

[...]